Amit's Blog

Why I closed my Facebook account? And why you should too.

In a nutshell, Facebook made it clear that it cared more about my information than my privacy. Facebook recently released a new “feature” called Beacon, which has gotten widespread criticism from many different groups, most notably MoveOn.org.

Beacon allows third party sites like OverStock.com, BlockBuster.com, and a growing list of others to send Facebook information about your activity on their site. The idea here is that the next time you rent a movie at Blockbuster, all your Facebook friends can know about it. From an advertising point of view, this is a gold mine. Every time a Facebook user rents a movie on Blockbuster, they get to advertise their service to all of that user’s Facebook friends. From a user point of view it’s horrible.

There are some great quotes on Dare Obasanjo’s blog that summarize the user’s view of Beacon. There are two major problems with Beacon:

1) You can’t opt out.
2) You don’t know if the site you’re on is using Beacon until it’s too late.

After purchasing an item on OverStock.com, most people will close the window, but wait! If you’re not careful, you’ll miss the box in the top right that magically appears and starts transmitting what you just did to Facebook. Where’s that ‘cancel’ or ‘stop’ button you ask? Oh there isn’t one. You are given two options and two options only – either send Facebook the data but don’t let your friends see it or send Facebook the data and let your friends see it. Do you see the common thread? Either way Facebook is going to get your data, and I guarantee that they will be using that information to help build a profile for you to deliver to advertisers.

So you know to watch for it on OverStock.com, but by the time you read this, who knows how many other companies may have already signed up for this without us knowing about it.

But wait, I don’t use the same email address for Facebook as I do for making purchases online. – Oh don’t worry, they take care of that for you. I could use a slew of technical jargon to explain but it’s as simple as this – if you’re signed into Facebook on that computer, these sites will know. Doesn’t matter what email address you use, these sites will know what account is signed into Facebook and will send the data to that account.

Facebook never considered their user’s privacy when they activated this feature. They blindly assumed that everyone would love this and be on board. Maybe they were blinded by the new revenue stream they were opening up with Beacon.

In this day and age, when people are clamoring to the government to restore rights and privacy, are you ready to willing hand it over to Facebook without so much as a thought? Oh and if you think that you should trust Facebook more than the US Government, then read their privacy policy:

We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We do not reveal information until we have a good faith belief that an information request by law enforcement or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through the Facebook service or using the Facebook name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies.